Henry Cavill’s DCEU Superman Costume Destroyed During Auditions for James Gunn’s Movie

Next year will see the debut of James Gunn‘s Superman, featuring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. Not only will Superman — alongside Creature Commandos — launch Gunn and Peter Safran‘s new slate for DC Studios, but it also signals a resurgence of superhero stories on the big screen (including The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which will debut in the same month). What fans may not know is that Corenswet wasn’t the only person who auditioned for Clark Kent. The other two finalists for the Superman role were Nicholas Hoult, who eventually wound up snagging the role of Superman’s archnemesis Lex Luthor (it strangely wasn’t the first DC hero role Hoult lost out on) and Tom Brittney. Brittney recently discussed his audition, which might have led to one of the wildest wardrobe malfunctions of all time.

Brittney was a guest on the Hellish podcast, where the topic of his Superman audition came up. Brittney then revealed that he auditioned in the same Superman suit Henry Cavill wore during Man of Steel, and that he ended up ripping it:

“It was actually Henry Cavill’s Superman suit – it was his actual suit. It takes about half an hour to get into it – to get sewn into it. And yeah, I think I might have accidentally ripped it. I was more muscular than Henry Cavill, that’s the only reason.”

Gunn would later confirm this, writing on Threads: “Tom messed it up and then Corenswet came in [and] he was way too tall so it just got torn to shreds,” Gunn said. But there wasn’t any love lost between Gunn and Brittney, as the director said that Brittney was “truly one of my favorite actors. Incredibly talented guy.” Gunn also said that the suit used for auditions “was an original that wasn’t in the best shape to begin with.” When working on a big blockbuster, especially one concerning a superhero, there are plenty of costumes made during production. It only makes sense that there was a spare around for Corenswet, Brittney, and Hoult to wear. In fact, this is not the first time an actor wore a classic superhero suit for an audition.

Henry Cavill and Christian Bale Wore Classic Costumes for Their Superman & Batman Auditions

Henry Cavill actually took a similar route as his predecessors when he auditioned for Man of Steel, as he wore Christopher Reeve’s original Superman costume for his screen test. Zack Snyder posted images of Cavill in the suit online, while discussing how he knew Cavill was the right pick for Superman the minute he slipped into the suit. But while Snyder was confident that Cavill could embody the Last Son of Krypton’s presence, Cavill himself wasn’t so sure. He told Entertainment Weekly, “All I could think was, Oh, God, they’re going to look at me and go, ‘He’s not Superman. Not a chance.’ The actor inside me was going, ‘You’re not ready! You’re not ready!’” Cavill would eventually work with Snyder on Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League.Another suit that’s been pulled out of the mothballs for auditions is Val Kilmer‘s Batman suit from Batman Forever. Two future Batmen actually wore the Kilmer suit for their respective screen tests! Christian Bale wore the suit for his Batman Begins audition, winning the role over Cillian Murphy (who went on to play the Scarecrow in Begins). Robert Pattinson also revealed that he wore the Kilmer suit when screen-testing for The Batman, and that it came with a major drawback: “I remember we did like two takes and people were just saying, ‘What can we do about the sweat?’ (laughs) They were like, ‘Nothing! Nothing that can be done.’ I had to be drained of liquid.”